


Riptide

by ThatGoblin



Category: Rhett & Link, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Gen, ethan is smol boi, lifeguard AU, lifeguard!ethan, rhett and link friendship/roommates, rhett is big boi, surfer!rhett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24905011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGoblin/pseuds/ThatGoblin
Summary: It's another day on the beach for lifeguard Ethan Nester till he has to pull a struggling surfer from a riptide.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal, Rhett McLaughlin/Ethan Nestor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Riptide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redtessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtessa/gifts), [twistedboxy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedboxy/gifts).



> For Redtessa and Twistedboxy cause they're are the best.

CPR

Ethan was a small guy. Barely hitting 5’8” and weighing a whopping 150 soaking wet, it didn’t stop him from doing his job at the beach in LA. He’d proven time and time again that he was the fastest swimmer they had and one of the strongest members of the team. He was able to fireman carry one of the larger guys that was almost twice his size, not that he could hold him for long, but it was enough because even when larger people needed saving, the water helped bounce them onto his board. 

Incidentally, because of his size and his boyish good looks, he happened to get a lot of fangirls and fanboys that would come and sit by his tower on the beach. As long as they were safe and not interfering with his job, Ethan didn’t really mind. He’d wave and give a smile, maybe chat on his breaks, but nothing more than that. It was just unprofessional to be flirting with people while he was supposed to be keeping people safe at the beach. 

The need for CPR and an ambulance didn’t arise often, but one late afternoon it happened. 

Someone had gotten caught in a riptide while surfing and got sucked under. Thankfully the guy had a friend who he’d been surfing with notice right away. Ethan had made note of them before anything happened because they were getting pretty close to a set of rocks. The one who went under had fallen off after getting hit with a set of big waves that were continuing to come in. The guy’s board was floating towards the beach as his friend tried to not get knocked off his board and sucked under as Ethan sprinted towards them with his board in hand. It took less than a 30 seconds before he was at the spot where the surfers were. 

But there was no second surfer. He looked around the water before seeing him pop up. Face down in the water, the other surfer yelled his name, “Rhett! Rhett!”

Ethan swam to him, managing to haul the guy up onto his board. The surfer was tall and clumsy to get up, making it hard in the waves that were getting bigger and stronger. 

“Head to shore!” He yelled as another lifeguard, Mark, showed up to help. Making sure the unconscious man stayed with him, he let Mark help the other surfer who was starting to really panic and not listen to them. It was almost a fight to get back to shore, but Ethan was well trained and knew how to move in the water to be as fast and efficient as possible. In half a minute they were at the shore where other lifeguards were ready to help. “He’s not breathing and I think he’s been under for almost two minutes,” he said, helping haul the guy, Rhett, to the sand and out of the water. 

Ethan took the lead and cut the wetsuit from Rhett’s chest as his coworker, Jack, inserted a tube into Rhett’s throat to keep him from swallowing his tongue and clearing his airway. Then Ethan began chest compressions. He could hear the guy’s friend crying as Mark held him back. What he hated the most about these situations, other than them happening in the first place, is the crowd it drew. Why did people feel the need to film and gawk at them as they tried to save people’s lives? People would even insert themselves because they were somehow in the medical field, whether or not they were trained for that sort of thing. 

“No pulse,” he said as he stopped to check before they attached the defibrillator to the man. “Clear! Everyone back up!” The machine was better at checking to see if he needed more CPR or an actual jolt of electricity. A quick current was sent through the man before Ethan checked his pulse again. “Shit,” he muttered as he began chest compressions again. “Come on, come on.” 

Ethan had yet to be faced with a death on the beach. He’d been a lifeguard there for nearly two years and fortunately they hadn’t lost someone when he was there. As selfish as it was, he wasn’t sure that if he lost someone that he’d be able to keep doing the job afterwards. 

The surfer he’d pulled out had to be in his mid to late 30s and well over 6’ tall. From what he gleaned from the conversation that Mark was having with the friend they went surfing every week and this was the first time in the few years since they’d started that something like this happened. There was no allergies or medication that he was on, so by all accounts they should be able to get him back. Ethan told himself that at least.

Just before they administered a shock, Rhett was coughing up water and vomiting. Jack pulled the tube from his throat to let the other get it all out without blocking or slowing it down. They rolled him onto his side so he didn’t choke.

“Rhett? My name’s Ethan, can you give my hand a squeeze to let me know you hear me?” He said as he took the other’s large hand in his smaller one. “Just give me a squeeze, even a tiny one. Rhett, can you hear me?” It took a moment as the man blinked rapidly as he gained his barings while an oxygen mask was placed over his nose and mouth, but his hand was soon gripping Ethan’s in a vice grip. “There we go. Good man. Just keep hold of my hand, the EMTS are on their way. Just keep breathing nice, deep breaths and if you need to puke, just let us know.” 

They kept Rhett in the recovery position, laid on his left side as they kept him still even as he tried to get up once, but was easily dissuaded given that he was exhausted from fighting the ocean after going under. Once Rhett was as good as he could get for the time, Ethan glanced up to see the other man nearly sobbing as Jenna, another lifeguard, comforted him and helped him gather his wits a bit. The guys were lucky. Usually the riptide was easy to get out of for most people who had been to the ocean a handful of times, but with the waves getting bigger and badder, they both could have easily gone under and that would have been the end of it.

The ambulance arrived soon after, as they got him onto a stretcher and moved him closer to the street. 

Everything happened in less than ten minutes and Ethan was just glad that Rhett was being taken away in an ambulance with its lights on rather than one that wasn’t rushing. When everything settled, the crowd was gone and Ethan was taking a breather in the main tower. It had just been another rescue, someone who needed help and Ethan went running right to them without a second thought. It was his job, but that one had been hard. There had been a brief moment of panic in his chest when Rhett didn’t respond right away after the first shock of the defib. 

He was allowed to leave once he was given the all clear as it was quitting time anyways, but he saw that the surf boards and bags that belonged to the surfers were still at the tower. The boards would be put up in the tower over night so it wouldn’t be a problem, but he could take the bags to them. A quick check let him see wallets, phones, keys, and clothes that they’d need. He let his boss, Ken, know he was taking them over to the hospital, not an uncommon thing to do, then headed out. In the haste of just trying to get Rhett to the hospital the friend must have just dropped everything and a good samaritan brought everything to the tower.

Coming down from the rush of a rescue, Ethan let his mind blank a bit. He didn’t really think or plan ahead on anything and just focused on driving. It was how he kept sane most of the time. Being a lifeguard meant having to multitask while still keeping an eye on the waters. Then when it was go time, he had to put that into overdrive to take in everything around him as he wrestled with the ocean and sometimes the people he’s trying to save. Just letting his mind go blank and float in blandness was what he needed after big saves like Rhett’s. 

The hospital the ambulance had taken the guy, Rhett, to was nearby. Maybe a 40 minute drive in regular traffic at that time of day. Parking his jeep near the middle of the lot, he grabbed the bags and headed inside. 

Inside, he was able to ask what room Rhett McLaughlin was in and explained he had his stuff from the beach as well as showed his Lifeguard badge. Up four floors in the elevator and Ethan was remembering why he hated hospitals. The sterile smell, the bright fluorescent lights, the most uncomfortable furniture known to man, just all of it together put him on edge. He much preferred the salty air of the ocean compared to anything else really. Finding the right room, he knocked.

“Come in,” a voice called. Opening the door, he found the friend sitting in a chair on a towel still in his own wetsuit while Rhett laid in a bed with his eyes closed. “Oh, it’s you,” the man said, looking up to see Ethan.

“Hi, uh you guys left all your stuff at the beach and we saw what was in the bags so we figured you’d need them,” Ethan said as he walked in, holding out the bags. The friend took them as Ethan glanced at the man in the bed. His sandy blond curls were just long enough to make a small wave that complimented his beard, but it couldn’t distract from the nasal cannula that was draped over his ears and pushed into his nose. However, Rhett did look a lot better with a pinky complexion than the blue one he’d had when Ethan pulled him from the water “How is he?”

“He’s gonna be okay, thanks to you,” the friend said with a smile. “The doctor said they wanna keep him overnight to make sure he doesn’t have a. . . Crap, something like secondary drowning, where there’s still water in the lungs and we don’t realize it till it’s too late.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Ethan nodded. That was common in people that had nearly drowned in the water and had been resuscitated. He was happy to hear they were keeping an eye on him. “Yeah, that’s pretty standard practice for them to do. I mean, he swallowed and breathed a lot of water out there. You guys surf that part often?”

“Sometimes, usually we go further up the beach, but we had time today and it . . . Crap, I’m sorry, I’m Link,” the man said, flustered as he shook himself a bit. “Link Neal.” Holding out his hand, Ethan couldn’t help the giggle as he shook Link’s hand. 

“Ethan Nester, nice to meet you,” he said, giving him a gentle smile.

“What, I don’t get handshakes from cute boys?” A cracking voice asked from the side. Ethan looked over to see Rhett opening his eyes, though they stayed heavy with exhaustion. Nearly dying would do that to a person.

“No, you don’t get handshakes from cute boys because you almost died,” Link snapped, turning to Rhett,with his hands on his hips.

Ethan went wide eyed and blushed at being called cute by the men. They were easily a decade or so older than him and while he was used to people saying he was cute, it certainly wasn’t when he was on the spot like that. 

“I almost died so I should get handshakes from cute boys,” Rhett said, raising a brow and smirking slightly as Ethan felt himself get a bit hot in the cheeks. 

“Uh, I was just returning your stuff that got left behind in the chaos,” Ethan said, clearing his throat as he nodded to the bags in Link’s hand.

“That’s awful nice of you,” Rhett said, flicking his eyes to the bags. “We could have picked them up tomorrow.”

“How? Our bags had everything in them. We wouldn’t even be able to do much with the hospital if he hadn’t brought them,” Link said with a sigh as he sat down. “Eck. . . Okay, uh, favor though,” he said, standing back up and looking at Ethan. “Can you babysit this dumbnut while I shower real quick? I don’t trust him on his own.”

“Oh, um, I-I guess,” Ethan said, taken aback by the request. He’d never done that much interaction with one of his patients, as anyone he had to give aid to was called a patient by lifeguard training, after the rescue. Then again, he didn’t usually deliver bags to people at the hospital. It was a weird day. 

“Cool, thanks. I just need to wash off the ocean and get out of my wet suit before I get a rash,” Link said, taking his bag and heading to the bathroom. 

Suddenly Ethan was left alone with Rhett and he had no idea what to say or do. 

“You can sit if you want,” Rhett said, nodding to the empty chair next to his bed. “I promise I won’t bite.”

“Well, only if you’re sure,” Ethan said with a chuckle as he moved to sit in the chair after moving the wet towel. 

“So, I’m curious,” the bearded man said. “How does a small guy like you pull a huge guy like me out of the ocean, drag me ashore, and then save my life? You can’t be older than 20.”

“Uh, close,” Ethan said with a smile. “I just turned 22 and it’s from lots and lots of training. Besides, some of the girls on our crew are a bit smaller than me and do just fine.”

“Huh, you learn something new all the time,” Rhett said with a nod. “Thanks for pulling me out nonetheless. Pretty sure Link would have killed me if I had died.” 

“You’re welcome. It’s my job to keep guys like you alive,” Ethan said as he leaned back in the chair, relaxing a bit. 

“Guys like me? You mean handsome strangers with positively voluptuous beards?” He asked, smirking as he raised a brow. Ethan felt his cheeks get hotter as he fumbled over his words. Yes, Rhett was very handsome and seemed to be very charming, someone Ethan would have no problem going out with if he had the balls to actually approach the other under normal circumstances. “I’m kiddin’, but that was funny to see your face.”

Ethan was beginning to think that maybe he should have let the other drown. 

“I meant guys that get sucked into the riptide and whatnot,” Ethan said, recovering slightly. “Usually people with any experience with swimming in the ocean know how to handle them. Especially surfers.”

“Ouch,” Rhett said, pressing a hand to his chest. “You know how to cut deep.”

“I just call it like I see it,” Ethan said. “I’d stay out of the water for a bit though. In all seriousness if you get stuck somewhere again you might not be as lucky cause it takes a lot out of you to get swept that far that fast then having to fight the current.”

“I gotcha,” Rhett said with a nod. “Yeah, probably gonna just stick to the shower for my source of water sports.” Ethan stared at him a moment, wondering if Rhett understood what he was saying. The raised brow and twitch of the corner of his mouth told Ethan that Rhett understood very much what he was saying. 

“You’re a dirty, old man, aren’t you?” Ethan asked evenly, sending Rhett into a fit of giggles. 

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Rhett said, the apples of his cheeks a rosey color as he smiled at Ethan. The young man wondered if Rhett knew how good he looked when he was being cheeky, but after just a few minutes with the man, he was sure Rhett knew damn well. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be creepy with ya, just being dead for a minute or two does that to ya.”

“It’s okay. I’m not creeped out,” Ethan said, pulling a leg up to his chest and wrapping his arms around it. “Takes more than some tall guy I pulled out of the water to creep me out.”

“Right back to those deep, deep cuts,” Rhett said with a wince. “Kiddo, you ever get told how funny you are?”

“Mmm, sometimes,” Ethan said with a smirk. How had his day gone from people from slathering on sunscreen under the almost too hot sun to sitting in a hospital and semi-flirting with one of the people he’d pulled out of the ocean? That usually didn’t happen and Ethan wondered if it was the stars aligning or someone got their lucky numbers that day and sent him some good vibes. He was going to take it either way. 

“So, you from LA?” Rhett asked as they settled a bit more.

“No. I’m from Maine. Came out here for college and when that tanked I became a lifeguard,” Ethan said. 

“Oh? What were you going to college for?” Rhett said, keeping those mossy green eyes on Ethan. It was almost like having a comforting blanket wrapped around him as Rhett looked at him. Usually people could get intense or just uncomfortable, but the man’s entire face just read as tender and caring. In LA it was hard to find people like that. All his friends at the lifeguard station were nice, but they never looked at him like they were looking at someone you were sharing secrets with late at night in the dark. 

That was the man’s whole essence and the dirty humor aside, Rhett just oozed with sincerity and it made it easy to talk to him. 

“I was going for a marine biology degree to major in and then film to minor in. The whole thing was to be the next Robert Ballard, but that kinda fell through when the college went under,” Ethan said, sighing softly.

“Wait, you went to that University of Liberty Los Angeles?” Rhett asked as he frowned.

“Yeah. Paid for two semesters of school, food hall tickets, books, everything needed for college and I was left with nothing but some bills and a whole lot of nothing,” Ethan said. “Thankfully I already had a job and savings or I’d be worse off like some of my classmates. No one’s been reimbursed yet and it’s already been a year. Pretty sure it’s not going to happen.”

“Damn, that’s a hard break,” Rhett said with a wince. 

“Yeah, but I’m happier for it at least,” Ethan said. “I mean, there’s not a mountain of student debt because I got scholarships, but I also have to live with a roommate to afford living here. It’s better than Maine most days.”

“Most days?” Rhett asked with a soft huff and a smile.

“Some days I just want it to rain and smell like the pine forest around my grandma’s place while I sit on the porch and just exist for a bit,” Ethan said, his gaze going unfocused a moment before coming back. Had he just said all that to this stranger? Jeez, he must be getting dizzy on the hospital cleaners. Ethan never talked about home that much to anyone, not even his roommate, but then again he wasn't there a lot. Eugene wasn’t there most of the time because he was busy with the flavor of the week. He paid rent though, so Ethan didn’t really care and he got the apartment to himself a lot.

“You really are cute, you know that?” Rhett hummed. 

“Oh, um. . . I. . .” Ethan felt his whole face go up in flame as he sat there under Rhett’s gaze. 

“Forget I said anything, it’s probably the drugs they got me on,” he said with a chuckle as Ethan looked at the IV and back at Rhett.

“You’re not on anything. That’s a saline bag,” Ethan said. Standing up, he moved to check the bag while leaning over Rhett. 

“Well, maybe not. . .” Rhett said, shifting in bed. “Maybe I just said that so you’d come closer.” 

Looking down, Ethan saw Rhett smirking at him. Cheeky. 

“And what was your plan for if I didn’t come over or called a nurse?” Ethan asked, staying leaned over Rhett.

“Don’t know. Figured it would work and it did,” Rhett said, looking over Ethan’s face. 

“Only slightly,” Ethan said with a snort before pulling back.

“Oh?” Rhett hummed as he watched the other closely.

“I’m not good on the uptake sometimes, but I read you loud and clear for this,” the younger man said as he got a pen and paper. Scribbling something down, he handed it to Rhett. “I don’t kiss before the first date.” 

“First date, huh? Aren’t you little mister proper etiquette,” the bearded man said, taking the paper. 

“Well, when I say that it weeds out the jerks usually,” Ethan said with a laugh as he moved to sit back down.

“Sounds like a good plan. Lucky you, I’m not a jerk,” Rhett said, looking at the paper.

“Mostly,” Ethan snorted. After long last, Link came back from the shower. Dressed in a pair of shorts and a tee, he looked much more comfortable than in the wetsuit he’d worn to the hospital. 

“He wasn’t too weird, was he?” Link asked, his demeanor goofy and laid back, unknowing of everything that had happened. Ethan laughed at the other man, getting an eye roll from Rhett.

“To be fair, you guys live in LA. Everyone’s weird,” Ethan said. “I better get going though. It was good seeing you and that you’re doing alright.” 

“Thanks again for the assist,” Rhett said with a smile as he held up a hand to wave. 

“You’re welcome,” Ethan said, waving back. “Make sure he takes it easy. No surfing for a while, at least not without supervision,” he said to Link with a grin as Rhett scoffed at him.

“No worries. He’ll be wrapped up in bubble wrap if I have to to make him stay home,” Link said, giving the young man a thumbs up. 

“Like that’s stopped me before,” Rhett said with a snort.

“I don’t think I want to know,” Ethan said looking between the two. “Get some rest. Both of you. Maybe I’ll see you at the beach again sometime soon.”

“Definitely,” Link said with a grin. “Not drowning next time.”

“Better not be,” Ethan laughed before giving Rhett one last wave before heading out of the room. Visitor hours were just about over and that meant he would have been kicked out anyways. 

Back in his jeep, he swore he wasn’t going to look at his phone and wait for a text. He wasn’t that desperate and he didn’t want to seem that way to the other, but when his phone pinged he was embarrassingly quick to check it.

Unknown Number: Do lifeguards like to eat?

Either it was a stupid prank or Rhett was asking him out on a date.

Ethan: Most of the time we do. I prefer Korean places myself.

Unknown Number: Like Korean BBQ? I know a good place to go to. When do you work?

Pausing a moment, wanting to err on the side of caution, Ethan gave the number a call. It would be his dumb luck that he just assumed it was Rhett and in fact it was someone else entirely.

“Did you miss my voice that much already?” The man on the other end asked, a slight twang in his bemused tone.

“Actually I just wanted to make sure it was you,” Ethan said, laughing in his jeep.

“You literally JUST gave me your number, who else would it be?” Rhett asked with a groan.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t want to give my schedule without actually knowing for sure!” He cried, laughing even harder at how dumb it really was. He was a nervous laugher and the more worried he was, the more he laughed because it was easier to do that than to moan and cry.

“Boy,” Rhett sighed, making Ethan grin. “Save my number. This is Rhett. Now what days do you work?”

“I work Tuesday to Saturday 8AM to 7PM,” Ethan said after calming down. “So Sundays and Mondays are good and so are evenings.”

“Alright. I’ll pick you up tomorrow after work. Is that good?” Rhett asked.

“Uh, yeah. That’s good with me. So long as you’re not disobeying doctor’s orders,” Ethan said.

“I’m an adult, I can do what I want pshh,” Rhett said before Link yelled at him from the other end that he was not doing that. “I’ll keep you updated on that. Nurse Ratchet here might throw our plans out the window and I have to do an escape act.”

“Alright,” Ethan chuckled. “Just let me know. Get some sleep, you had a rough day.”

“Well, you made it a bit easier to deal with,” Rhett hummed through the phone, making Ethan blush. “Have a good night Ethan.”

“You too, Rhett. Goodnight.” Hanging up, Ethan really let the situation sink in. He had a date for the first time since moving to California. That was a good thing, but why did it suddenly cause so much anxiety? Probably because as calm and cool as he came off on the beach and in the hospital, Rhett truly had no idea how much of a spazz he was and how embarrassing he could be. “What am I doing?” He groaned into his hands before starting his jeep. There wasn’t much to do but to go through with it. 

After all, who said it couldn’t end up being a good time?

**Author's Note:**

> I do what I want and I want to see smol boi Ethan 'Heapass' Nester get railed by giant man Rhett 'Ramrod' McLaughlin.


End file.
